A Genius' Work is Never Done #28
by KaitlynRose
Summary: Lucas is pushing himself too hard.


I do not own seaQuest or its characters. I am not profiting from this story, it is for entertainment  
purposes only.   
  
  
  
A Genius' Work is Never Done  
By: Kaitlyn Rose   
  
  
  
Lucas was just finishing up installing the last of his program into the seaFire's main computer   
system. He was exhausted. He had basically just worked for almost thirty-six hours straight and at the   
moment he could barely see straight. He realized that he was going to have to start practicing staying up   
again.  
  
There used to be a time when he could have done forty-eight hours with no problem. At least, he   
thought that was true. He suddenly wasn't sure. He was still having problems sorting out what he really   
remembered from what really happened at times. He knew that he was choosing to accept his childhood as   
a Bridger as reality, but he knew that with the Wolenczaks he often didn't sleep. But now that Mom and   
Dad insisted on him sleeping every night and eating regular meals like normal people did, he found that he   
didn't have what it took anymore to really pull all nighters and live on just coffee.  
  
He just wanted to go home, though. The seaFire was so different from seaQuest. Everyone on   
board was so military. He felt like he was on a boat with a hundred Commander Fords. One Commander   
Ford was okay, but a whole boat of them was just too much. Not to mention that seaFire didn't have a   
science team on board, so there was no one there he could talk to that understood him. All the military   
people just wanted him to do his job and do it efficiently.   
  
He spied a look at his watch and cringed. Dad would be waking up in about three minutes. He   
was supposed to have stopped working over fifteen minutes ago so he could sneak back into bed before   
Dad woke up and caught him up. Dad would flip if he found out that he hadn't slept at all last night.   
He hurried to throw all of his equipment into his case and scurry back to his room. He jumped when his   
PAL went off.  
  
"Lucas!" Nathan yelled into the small device.   
  
"Yeah Dad," Lucas replied.   
  
"Get back to our room right now."   
  
"Yes sir," Lucas said. 'Busted,' he thought to himself. He decided that he suddenly didn't want to   
hurry back to his room so he found himself walking a little slower. He finally got back and opened the   
door to the room he and Dad had shared for the last three days.   
  
"What time did you get up, and don't even think of lying to me," Nathan demanded.   
Lucas cringed. He was tempted to lie, but somehow he just couldn't lie to his Dad. He'd never been able to   
lie to the man, even before the adoption.   
  
"I got up about fifteen minutes after we went to sleep," Lucas admitted.   
  
"I thought as much. You look like something the cat dragged in," Nathan said. "I told you I didn't   
want you working all hours, didn't I?"   
  
"Yes," Lucas said.   
  
"Then why did you disobey me?"   
  
"I just wanted to get it finished," Lucas said.   
  
Nathan just shook his head. "Are you done?"   
  
"Yes."   
  
"Fine. Start packing. You just lost your computer games for a week."   
  
"A week!" Lucas exclaimed.   
  
"Do you want me to make it two?" Nathan asked.   
  
Lucas hung his head down. "No sir."   
  
"Good. I want you in the shuttle bay in one hour so we can go home. I'm going to go talk to   
Captain Mitchell and tell her of your progress. I'll see you in the launch bay."   
  
"Yes sir."   
  
"Lucas, I know you're eager to go home, but I won't have you disobeying me and not taking care   
of yourself. Kristin is going to be totally ticked when you come home looking as exhausted as you do."   
  
"I'm sorry," Lucas said. He grabbed his duffle and starting shoving things in it randomly, not   
bothering to fold anything.  
  
Nathan looked at the boy for a minute. He never liked having to discipline Lucas, in fact it was   
one of the hardest things he had to do in this life, but still, the boy had to mind them. He understood Lucas   
just wanted to go home, and the quickest way to do that was to finish the job, but honestly, that was no   
excuse.  
  
  
_____________________________________  
  
  
  
Nathan docked the shuttle and got out of the pilot's chair. He wasn't surprised to see the Lucas   
had curled up in the back and was no sound asleep. He walked over to the boy and put a hand on his   
shoulder.  
  
"Lucas, wake up."  
  
"Huh," Lucas said. "Oh." Lucas sat up and grabbed his bag. He followed Dad out of the shuttle.  
  
"Welcome back," Kristin said. "How did it go?"  
  
"Fine," Nathan said. "Lucas got the new system up and running."  
  
"Well, you got it up in record time. We weren't expecting you back until tomorrow," Kristin said.  
  
"That's because junior here decided to pull an all nighter and finish ahead of schedule," Nathan   
said, nodding at the sleepy Lucas.   
  
Lucas was leaning against the wall and wasn't really paying attention to them. He was already   
thinking about all the work that would be waiting for him here. He knew that by now the schematics for   
the next sub would be here for him to start working on, not to mention he could only imagine how much   
the computer techs had messed things up while he was gone.  
  
"Lucas?" Nathan called.  
  
"Huh," Lucas replied, snapping his head up to look at Dad.  
  
"You can go now, but remember, no computer games for a week."  
  
"Yes sir." Lucas yawned and then headed to his room. Once he got there all he did was throw his   
bag in the floor and then leave. He headed down to the computer lab to see what was up. He passed the   
mess along the way and grabbed a cup of stale coffee, which he drank anyway.  
  
In the computer lab he found Fagan arguing with another tech, Zebrowski.  
  
"What's wrong?" Lucas asked, stepping into the room.  
  
"Oh, your back," Fagan spat.  
  
"Like I said, what's wrong?"  
  
"The brain here managed to lock us out of the computer system. We can't access it no matter how   
we try," Zebrowski informed.  
  
"What?!?!" Lucas said. He set down his cup of coffee and stepped over to the monitor. He started   
pushing buttons and sure enough, nothing was responding.  
  
"What the hell did you do?" Lucas demanded.  
  
"I didn't do anything," Fagan said. "It was like this when I got here."  
  
"Lucas," came Commander Ford's voice over his PAL.  
  
"Yes," Lucas said.  
  
"I don't know what happened but right now the bridge has been completely shut down. We can't   
access the computers."  
  
"I know. Someone managed to screw up big time down here. I'm on it," Lucas told him.  
  
"Alright. Ford out."  
  
Lucas turned to glare at Fagan. Fagan just returned the look defiantly. "You can leave now,"   
Lucas said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You heard me," Lucas said. "Go to your quarters, go to the mess, go jump off a cliff, just get the   
hell out of here!" Lucas was exhausted and had absolutely no patience for this right now.  
  
"You little…" Fagan raised his hand as if to strike Lucas, but Zebrowski stepped in front of Lucas   
and blocked him.  
  
"Fagan, maybe you should go, you know, cool off a little," Zebrowski said.  
  
"What? Are you taking his side? Oh that's just great. You're going to bend over and kiss the   
kid's ass just because he's the Captain's son."  
  
"No I'm not. I'm taking his side because he's right about this. You messed up the system, again.   
Also, I'm not going to just stand back and let you smack him around. Considering I just saved you from a   
court marital, you might actually want to thank me," Zebrowski said.  
  
"Oh yeah, thanks. I really appreciate the fact that you're a big pansy who doesn't have the balls to   
stand up to a kid," Fagan said.  
  
Lucas just stood there not believing this was really happening. He finally concluded that Fagan   
wasn't just incompetent, the man was borderline nuts!!  
  
"I don't have time for this," Lucas said. "I have to fix the system. At the moment we're sitting   
ducks out here. Just go away."  
  
Fagan was about to reply when suddenly the Captain came into the room.  
  
Nathan looked at Lucas. "What is wrong with the computers?"  
  
"I don't know just yet," Lucas said. "I'll need some time to fix them. Depending on what he's   
done I might have to reformat the whole thing." Lucas pointed a finger at Fagan as he spoke.  
  
"Seaman, do you have any idea just what the situation is that you put us in? We have no helms   
control, no sensors, and no propulsion? Just how on earth did you get this job??! From now on your   
security clearance is revoked. You are on probation for the next two months. You are not to work on the   
computers alone under no circumstances. Now why don't you leave so Lucas can repair what you've   
done."  
  
Fagan only said, "Aye sir," but his eyes said so much more than his mouth did. He waited for the   
Captain to dismiss him, and then he marched out of the room.  
  
"Are you up for this? You haven't slept in a day and a half?" Nathan asked Lucas.  
  
"I slept in the shuttle. I'll be fine."  
  
"Lucas, you slept for a half an hour," Nathan said.  
  
"Just let me get to work. The faster I get to work the faster it'll be fixed," Lucas said.  
  
Nathan looked at Lucas. The kid was exhausted, but honestly he needed the boy to fix the   
problem and ASAP. "Fine, get to work. This is a priority. Don't be afraid to ask for any help if you need   
it."  
  
  
_________________________________________  
  
  
  
Fagan smiled as he made his way back to his room. All was going perfectly. They all believed he   
was incapable of even turning the computer on by himself. He would have to be careful though from now   
on. For a minute there he thought he was about to get tossed off the boat, and that wouldn't be good.  
  
No, now he would have to be the good little contrite seaman and work hard to show that he was   
trying to improve. He had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud. He wouldn't want to blow his   
cover just yet.  
  
When he made his move he would catch them all off guard. Then he would leave this tin can and   
no one would ever know that one of the world's greatest hackers had ever even been aboard. His only real   
concern was the kid. The kid was smart, too smart. He'd have to find a way to neutralize the boy so the   
plan went off without complications.  
  
But he wouldn't worry about that now. It would still be another week or two before he made a   
move.  
  
  
___________________________________________  
  
  
  
Lucas spent the next four hours trying to fix the crashed system. He had to reboot several of the   
computers and even reinstall several files that Fagan had somehow deleted. He gave a loud yawn and left   
the lab and headed for the bridge. He was almost done, thank god. All that was left was to start up the   
consoles on the bridge and then he could go to sleep.   
  
He knew he could tell the crew to do it for him, but he wanted to see the problem done to the end.   
Besides, if anything else went wrong he'd be right there to fix it on the spot before someone tried to fix it   
on their own and just messed things up again.  
  
He entered the mag-lev and sat down. He rested his head on the back of the wall. He closed his   
eyes for a second.  
  
  
  
"Lucas."  
  
Lucas bolted up and almost hit the floor but a strong hand grabbed him and steadied him.  
  
"Whoa there," Crocker said. "You okay?"  
  
"Yeah," Lucas said. "I need to get to the bridge," he yawned.  
  
"You look like you should go to sleep," Crocker said. "Dr. Westphalen is looking for you. She   
wants to check on you, make sure you eat something."  
  
"I will as soon as the boat is moving again." Lucas stood up slowly and exited the mag-lev. He   
started to walk away from the bridge.  
  
"Uh, Lucas, the bridge is that way," Crocker pointed.  
  
"Huh, oh, thanks." Lucas turned in the right direction. He looked up when he felt a hand wrap   
itself around his arm. "What?" he asked Crocker.  
  
"Nothing, just that you can't seem to walk a straight line, so I figured I'd make sure you actually   
made it to the bridge."  
  
"Oh," was Lucas' sleepy reply.  
  
They entered the bridge and Nathan was surprised to see Crocker actually holding Lucas up. The   
kid looked like he was about to pass out any second.  
  
"You okay?" Nathan asked.  
  
"Mmm,mmm." Lucas pulled away from Crocker and headed for the first console. Miguel stood   
up out of his seat so Lucas could sit down and get to work. Lucas quickly rebooted the system and then ran   
a basic diagnostic. He grinned when the diagnostic came back showing that everything was working   
properly.  
  
He got up and moved to the next console.  
  
"Lucas, is that all needs to be done now, to just restart all the consoles?" Nathan asked.  
  
Lucas nodded his head up and down. He stood up to go to the second console but he stumbled   
right into Dad's arms.  
  
"Okay, I think you've had enough," Nathan said. "Everyone, restart your computers and let's see   
if everything works now," Nathan ordered. "Then run a system check on your station."  
  
"Aye, sir," came the responses.  
  
Nathan looked at Lucas and saw that the kid was asleep. If Nathan let go Lucas would hit the   
floor.  
  
"Uh, do you need some help, sir?" Ford asked, grinning slightly.  
  
Nathan chuckled. "No, I've got him. Commander, you have the bridge while I put him to bed."  
  
"Aye sir."  
  
Nathan lifted Lucas with a small grunt. Lucas was definitely growing, and getting heavier. Not to   
mention he wasn't getting any younger he thought with a smile. He carried Lucas off the bridge and saw   
Kristin approaching.  
  
"What happened?" she asked.  
  
"He's asleep," Nathan told her.  
  
"Oh, so I guess I don't need to ask him to rest some," she joked.  
  
"No, I guess not," he laughed.  
  
Kristin opened the door to their quarters and then hurried to do the same with the door to Lucas'   
room.   
  
Nathan deposited Lucas onto the bed and gently removed his shoes. Lucas rolled on to his side   
mumbling something that they couldn't make out. Nathan looked at Kristin when he heard her digging   
through Lucas' duffle bag. She pulled something out and then turned back to the bed. He was surprised to   
see R.B. in her hands. He hadn't been aware of the fact that Lucas had taken the bear to the seaFire.  
  
Kristin tucked the soft toy in next to Lucas and then wrapped her arm around his and led him out   
of the room. They pulled the door too but as always, left it open just a crack.  
  
Nathan looked at her smiling and asked, "How did you know where R.B. was?"  
  
"Just a hunch," she smiled. "You didn't know he took it with him to seaFire?"  
  
"No," Nathan replied.  
  
"He was probably too embarrassed for you to see him with a teddy bear," she laughed.  
  
"Well if he slept with R.B. while we were on seaFire he did a good job of keeping him hid under   
the covers," Nathan told her.  
  
"Really, I was under the impression that he didn't sleep while he was on the seaFire," she said.  
  
"It's not my fault," Nathan said quickly, feeling a lecture coming on. "He tricked me. He waited   
for me to fall asleep and then he snuck out of the room."  
  
"I thought you were psychic," she teased. "Aren't you supposed to know when he's sneaking   
around?"  
  
"It doesn't always work like that," Nathan countered. "Besides, if you think you can do any better   
then good luck, cause you're going with him to the next sub, remember?"  
  
"Oh, trust me, he won't be sneaking out of the room next time. I'm actually pretty good at the art   
of booby traps," she laughed. Nathan laughed with her.  
  
"Yeah, but you'll only know to set the booby traps because you're using the knowledge you gained   
from my trip."  
  
"If you'll remember, Captain, I seemed to have warned you about him doing this before you ever   
left for the seaFire. But, apparently someone didn't take my warning all that seriously."  
  
"Okay, okay, point taken," Nathan laughed, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I best get back   
to the bridge."  
  
"Too bad. I was hoping you could stay and keep me company for a while. After all, you were   
gone for three days." She cozied up next to him and began to glide her hands up and down his back, and   
then just for good measure she squeezed his butt.  
  
"Well, Commander Ford does seem to like when I leave him in charge. I guess he wouldn't mind   
if I were gone for ten minutes."  
  
"Ten minutes? Oh, I don't think so. If I can't have at least thirty then you might as well go back   
to the bridge now." She made a show of turning around and starting to walk away.  
  
Nathan quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. He embraced her and kissed her   
passionately. "You little tease," he murmured. He lifted her up into his arms to carry her into the bedroom   
and she smiled wickedly at him.  
  
"This is more like it," she crooned.  
  
  
  



End file.
